


Skeletons

by xLaevateinn



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-17 04:56:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21048665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLaevateinn/pseuds/xLaevateinn
Summary: Coming to terms with life after the Promare was not as easy as they may have anticipated.





	1. 1

It took over half a day to rescue all the now former Burnish from the Promotech pods and find where they could provide temporary shelter for them. Lio refused to leave the remains of the spaceship until they were completely taken care of for the short-term and they could work out how to integrate them back into the city.

While not ideal, nearly all the buildings on Parnassus were empty as the 10,000 chosen and the remaining crew began vacating back into the city proper, and they set up short-term food and bathing facilities for them all. Thousands upon thousands of the Burnish had been displaced by the Foresight Foundation, and now that Promepolis had no governor, no one was around to give orders or provide emergency help. But it didn’t take long for Burning Rescue to send out a plea for volunteers and supplies from the rest of the city and were overwhelmed with both.

It took less than an hour for the first person to find them in the Parnassus, pushing a cart full of canned foods and blankets. Lio hadn’t recognized her, but she made a beeline for him specifically, and delivered it all into his arms with a smile. More people trickled in with odds and ends; pots and pans to cook, spare clothing, new toothbrushes and other toiletries. The stations that Galo, Aina, and Remi had set up to hold anything donated had quickly been filled and then emptied as Lio, Heris, and Varys freed the Burnish one by one from inside the engine room and led them to the upper levels of Parnassus.

Lucia and Vinny scoped out the buildings to ensure they would be sturdy enough to live in and guided the Burnish to their temporary living quarters after they received provisions to help them through the next few days. The process was tedious but kept them busy without break until the last Burnish was released from the Prometech pods.

Lio, his clothes in tatters and tangles in his hair, finally emerged from the engine room in the Parnassus with Varys and Heris, and Meis and Gueira, in tow. Sweat and dirt caked his face, but the triumphant smile made Galo beam as soon as he saw them. “Lio!” he called out, waving his free arm towards them as he handed two children a pile of blankets. When they moved on to get food from Aina, he rushed over to them, throwing his arms around Lio’s waist and lifting him into a twirling hug.

“Galo!” Lio complained, pushing his hand against Galo’s face to free himself, though he laughed all the same. With a grin, Galo gently placed Lio down and crossed his arms, watching him expectantly for news. Lio fixed his hair momentarily before motioning to the crowd. “That’s everyone. Once I found Gueira and Meis they were able to help speed up the process.” His face fell slightly, hands pressed tightly against his sides. “Some of the pods were nothing but ashes though.”

Gueira’s and Meis’s faces grew dark too, staring at the ground as Heris turned away, her expression distressed. Varys spoke up, filling the silence, “What are they going to do now?” They all looked at each other uncertainly before Ignis cleared his throat to get their attention.

He said, waving at the Rescuemobile they had locked the former Governor in, “Two things need to happen now. One, Kray Foresight needs to be held accountable for what he’s done and two, Promepolis needs to reorganize its leadership. Until both those things happen, there’s nothing we can do alone to help the Burnish back into society.”

“He’s right,” Heris sighed, adjusting her glasses as she glanced around at them. “Without proper leadership, Promepolis will fall apart. And if Kray isn’t held accountable, his supporters will call for his release and we can’t let that happen.” Her hands shook slightly and Aina patted her back, her expression uncertain. Lio glared at his shoes, his hair falling into his face.

Remi pondered aloud, “Who would, or could, even replace Kray? Isn’t everything run by his tech and all the tech patented by him? No one would even know the first thing about taking over for him. And you know he’s not gonna just tell us, either.”

Heris answered, “If we could talk to Biar, maybe she could help. I’m familiar enough with Kray’s technology to make use of it, it’s just getting into his systems that would be difficult.”

“Heh.” Lucia popped up from under Varys’s arm and put her hands on her hips. “You can leave that part to me. Breaking into Foresight tech is easy as cake.” She shot a thumbs up at Heris with one hand and fist bumped Galo with the other, a devious grin on her face.

“It’s not something that can be decided right now,” Ignis said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m heading to take Kray to the prison. If anything comes up, I’ll let you all know.” He took off in the Rescuemobile with the prior governor locked in the back, and the rest of Burning Rescue, plus Lio, Meis, Gueira, and Heris, stood silently, watching each other for a sign of what to do.

Finally, Aina piped up, “I think we should all go get some sleep. The Burnish are going to be okay for now and there’s nothing more we can do to help them than we’ve already done.” She reached for her sister and tugged her along, waving goodbye to the rest of them as they went. Galo rubbed his hair for a moment and shrugged.

He replied, crossing his arms, “I guess she’s right. We won’t be able to help these people if we’re too tired. We should head back for now and come back tomorrow.” Lio bristled for a moment, opening his mouth to snap, but Gueira clapped him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry! Meis and I will stay here to keep an eye on everyone. You go rest. You deserve it, Boss.” He winked and gave Lio a thumbs up, nudging him after Galo, Remi, Varys, and Lucia and following after Meis to meet up with the rest of the group. Lio watched after them, conflicted, before a warm hand touched his shoulder. 

Galo smiled at him. “Lio, I promise it’ll be fine. We’ll be back to help them.” He nodded slowly and followed Galo and the remaining members of Burning Rescue to head back to Station 3. The ride felt surprisingly short, though maybe he was just too anxious to pay attention to anything else as he fretted over the Burnish left inside of Parnassus. It seemed wrong to leave them there, but he couldn’t think of any other alternative. All he ever wanted was a place where the Burnish could call home and not be persecuted, and now it’s the closest he’d ever been.

They all took turns taking showers as soon as they returned, opting to stay at the Station in case anything happened in the aftermath of the Parnassus crash. Galo had the rest of the team go first as he took Lio back to his room to find some clothes to wear. “It’ll be way too big, but I have some spare clothes here you can use!”

He piled a mass of gray and black cloth into Lio’s arms. “This is practically a blanket,” he stated in amusement, shaking out the clothes to try to see what they were. It appeared to be sweats and a tee-shirt, both much too large for him.

“It’s all I got at the Station,” Galo said with a shrug. “Can’t go to bed in that.” He motioned to Lio’s scuffed leather pants and boots and Lio frowned, staring at his outfit for a moment, before turning around to march into the bathroom with the oversized clothing without comment. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, his mouth skewed into a frown, clutching the clothes to his chest. It was chilly in the bathroom, he realized, as goosebumps raised on his arms. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt cold.

After taking a few moments to figure out how to even turn the water on, Lio stripped off his boots and his pants, placing them carefully on the floor and taking a freshly folded towel from under the sink. He’d been on the run for so long that he couldn’t remember the last time he took a hot shower in peace. The thought somewhat bemused him as climbed in under the spray, letting it run hotly down his back and through his hair.

Dirt and bits of metal washed down his skin to the drain as he watched, his hands clenched into tight fists as he tried to recollect and put into some comprehensive order the last several days. Everything happened so fast after Freeze Force tracked them down near the volcanos and Lio faced near-death in Fennel Volcano. Even after that, he was certain that he was going to die for good after Kray connected him to the Parnassus, and then his memory grew fuzzy. He woke up to Galo cradling him and then they saved the Burnish together. And the world.

And Galo saved him.

Lio wasn’t positive how, though he was relatively certain that it had something to do with the flames he’d lent Galo to protect him from Kray. He brushed his lower lip with the tips of his fingers, contemplative. Could he have…? It would be just like Galo to throw caution to the wind, swallow Burnish fire, and use it to stoke the flames in Lio’s body to bring him back to life. He’d seen it happen with Thyma, in the cave. 

Why wouldn’t it work with Lio? 

That was probably his logic.

The hot water couldn’t quell or hide the hot sensation that burned his neck and cheeks at the thought of Galo’s mouth on his. He pushed his hair out of his face, and washed up quickly, keeping his mind on the task at hand instead of on Galo. Thoughts about Galo felt dangerous somehow.

Lio finished up and dressed quickly, tying the strings in the sweatpants as tightly as he could to keep them around his hips. Without announcing he let himself into Galo’s room with his own clothes in his arms and realize that Galo had removed the tattered remains of the arm sleeve that he always wore. Dark burn marks covered his arm from the shoulder to the wrist, and Lio frowned, placing his clothes down on a chair before walking over.

“Did a Burnish do this?” he asked quietly, touching the scars lightly as Galo dug around for something in a drawer of miscellaneous items in front of him. Galo paused and turned back to look at Lio, his eyes somber for a brief moment before he smiled.

“Sure, but don’t worry. She was just trying to protect herself.” Lio wrapped his arms around himself, watching the scars for a moment before turning away. Galo excused himself to go take a shower next and for a moment Lio stood still in the room alone, unsure of himself. It was somewhat bare, which he expected since it wasn’t Galo’s permanent residence, but there were a few personal items here and there. A photograph of him and Kray the day he received his medal, a tiny replica of that strange Matoi ornament, a few magazines, some workout equipment, some clothes. 

Still, it felt like Galo anyway, he noted as he sat at the edge of the bunk, finger combing out his damp hair as he waited for him to return.

The wait wasn’t long as Galo strode into the room with a loud yawn, stretching out his arms over his head. He wore identical gray pants with no shirt, though he had replaced the sleeve covering the burns on his arm. “Lio! Still awake?” he asked in surprise, using a towel to dry his hair before tossing it over a chair.

“I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to sleep,” he said flatly, eyeing the bunks. “Which one is yours?”

“Doesn’t matter, sleep where you want!” Galo climbed to the top bunk without further ado and flopped down onto the mattress with a thud. Lio remained seated on the lower bunk, his chin resting in his hand as he stared at the floor. The room grew quiet, though he couldn’t tell if Galo was asleep just yet, but he didn’t think he could even if he tried. His mind was still whirling at the idea that, even if it weren’t exactly homey, he was sleeping indoors, in a real bed, after taking a hot shower in private.

Tears dripped down his cheeks suddenly, and Lio didn’t try to stop them, his chest aching for some reason that he couldn’t quite place. A flash of blue filled his vision, and Galo was looking down at him from the top bunk, a frown on his face. Lio started to quickly dry the tears staining his cheeks but instead Galo hopped down and tugged Lio into his arms. “Galo, I’m fine,” he stated, his voice muffled against Galo’s shoulder.

“It’s fine to not be fine,” he replied, a hand pressed gently against the back of Lio’s head and an arm tight around his back. Lio’s eyes dried, but he didn’t remove himself from Galo’s arms, suddenly tired as he leaned heavily into his chest. He closed his eyes, finally warm for the first time since he’d lost his Promare, and allowed himself to doze off.

…

Lio shot awake, his nerves through the roof as he glanced around to make sure nothing was amiss. He was sleeping too well, too long, something had to be wrong. He sat up straight, sheets pooling at his waist and something sliding down his body to lay in his lap. For a moment he stared, confused, before he realized that someone’s arm had been draped around him while they slept. A snore caught his attention, and he looked to see Galo pressed into the pillow beside him, the two crammed tightly together on the narrow bed.

The sudden motion hadn’t disturbed Galo at all, as he laid next to Lio with drool pooling onto his pillowcase. Lio watched him silently, watching he rise and fall of his chest as he slept, and ran his fingers through his wild blue mane with reverence. Thoughts in the back of his head that he had kept at bay until now were plaguing him ceaselessly, demanding why he thought he really belonged here. Just days ago these people were his enemies, and now he found himself embraced by one of them like none of the previous prejudices that made them enemies to begin with ever existed.

Life wasn’t going to just go on as normal. The last 30 years of Burnish existence wouldn’t just disappear, and honestly, the Burnish shouldn’t be expected to just forget it either. Lio glanced back down to Galo’s arm in his lap and sighed. He couldn’t do this. Everything that had ever made Lio who he was, that shaped him into the man that eventually led Mad Burnish, all of that was gone.

After contemplating, Lio sighed and slid out from the sheets carefully so as not to wake Galo. He changed into his pants and boots quietly and headed for the door of their little room. Without really understanding why, he turned back and watched Galo’s sleeping face, feeling a pang of sadness in his chest that he ignored. “Goodbye Galo,” he said softly, closing the door behind him.


	2. 2

**2**

“Hey, dumbass, wake up.”

Galo's groggy brain shuddered awake, and he sat up quickly, one hand to his forehead as the room spun for a second. He rubbed his eyes and turned to see Remi standing by the bunk, his brows furrowed together over his frames. “Morning Remi!” Galo said brightly, throwing his legs over the mattress and stretching his arms over his head before jumping up. “Nice quiet night, huh? Not surprising since the Burnish aren’t lighting everything up anymore!” Remi didn’t reply, his eyebrows raised as Galo scurried around the room, getting dressed in his gear. “Normal fires are gonna be boring in comparison,” he added, hopping on one foot as he tugged his pants up, before he caught sight of his empty bed, and stopped still, half dressed.

“Remi. Where’s Lio?”

With a grimace, he pushed his glasses up his nose and replied, “We were going to ask you the same thing. Security footage from the bay shows that he left a few hours ago, took a bike too. No note, no call, nothing.” Galo stared at him, pondering, before shrugging heavily and waving a hand dismissively.

“Lio probably wanted some alone time, yeah? I’m sure he’ll be back soon. Can’t expect him to deal with us all the time!” He laughed loudly, his hands on his hips before striding out of the room and shouting his greeting at Aina and Lucia as he entered the common area.

Lio didn’t return by nightfall that day, though Galo did everything he could to block out the concern that began building in the back of his mind. A couple of minor, normal fires only kept his attention for so long, and he found himself back in bed that night, alone for the first time in a couple weeks, his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. He mulled over the events since he first met Lio, trying to glean where he may have gone, and coming up empty.

Varys and Lucia sided with Galo, stating that Lio must have needed some time to himself, but Remi and Aina didn’t agree. But none of them had much time to discuss it that day, and Galo found himself rolling back to square one over and over again, with no more information or ideas than he had started with.

If there was one thing that Galo felt absolutely certain of, more than anything, it was that he would never understand Lio. Even if they spent a thousand lifetimes together, he would only crack the very surface of what made him tick. But, really, it didn’t bother him. Galo could watch Lio all day, just Lio doing what he did, and not get bored. Which said a lot about the level of fascination he had with him considering the ease with which he got bored with nearly anything else. But that was just fine. He liked it that way. Losing his connection with the Promare seemed to change Lio very little on the surface.

“Damn,” he grumbled, hitting his wall in annoyance, frustration boiling over as he sat up, unable to sleep. “Lio, what are you doing?” With a snort, Galo hopped from his bed to the ground, leaving his room and heading over to their lockers.

He propped open Lio’s and frowned. It was completely empty. Even his torn old clothes were gone, like he’d never been there. The thought, surprisingly, made Galo immeasurably sad. Since Lio had exploded into his world, the idea of returning to the way things were before seemed impossible.

Galo huffed.

“I got no choice then,” he justified to himself with a nod, crossing his arms over his chest. He shut Lio’s locker with a twist of his hips and took off to the bay, grabbing the keys to his bike off the ring and hopping into the seat.

“Galo?”

He turned around in his seat, surprised. Aina stood in the doorway, her expression giving Galo pause. “Don’t worry Aina, I’ll be back! And Lio’ll be with me!” He grinned at her and threw a thumbs up before clicking on the bike, and taking off into the night.

The bike drove like it was on auto-pilot. Galo didn’t think about it, not really, but he knew where he wanted to go. Where he had to go. The streets were quiet though, still recovering from the aftermath of the Parnassus Project. The cleanup was mostly done, the city just needed to rebuild and reorganize after Kray’s fall from grace. Galo wasn’t too interested in all that mess; he was a firefighter through and through and uninterested in much of anything else going around the city. Ignis had taken it upon himself to lead several projects, and Galo was proud of the Captain.

The stars flickered into view as he left the bright lights of Promepolis behind him, and the temperature began to drop. His breath fogged in front of him as he pulled over to the side of the highway, kicking the stand out before turning off his bike. The lake was gone, just like the building that hid beneath it for nearly 30 years, but the serene atmosphere left him with deep nostalgia. Galo wasn’t even surprised to see another PPFD bike there, but felt relieved all the same.

Lio’s hair shimmered like glass in the moonlight. He sat on a tree stump, knees folded against his chest and tucked under his chin. A bag leaned against his seat, half open with all of his belongings carefully placed inside. Galo strode up with no fanfare and sat down in the grass next to him, resting his elbow against the stump. Before he said anything, he felt Lio’s gloved hand reach down to ruffle his hair and his fingertips lingered for a moment before retracting.

“I’m not really leaving,” Lio said casually, stretching his legs out and looking down to meet Galo’s gaze. “I considered it, but…”

“Oh, yeah?” Galo replied, resting his chin in his hand, unable to stop a smile from spreading across his mouth. “Changed your mind, then?”

He snorted before he responded, “Things would pretty uninteresting without you around.” Galo laughed and shrugged nonchalantly, pointing a thumb back at his own chest.

“Happy to be of service! If it keeps you around, I’ll be the least uninteresting person you know!” Lio laughed and hopped down from the stump, arranging himself to sit between Galo’s legs with his back against his chest, arms resting on either of his thighs.

“The power of your burning soul needs to do its job and keep me warm,” he complained, and Galo looped one arm around Lio’s waist and saluted with the other.

“Sir, yes, sir!”

They sat that way for a long while, and Galo felt himself start to doze off a couple of times, but caught himself, shaking his head to wake himself up. Lio remained quiet, staring off into the distance as if lost in his thoughts, with his hands wrapped around Galo’s loosely as they rested in his lap. After what seemed like ages, Lio sighed heavily and stood up suddenly, startling Galo as he nearly knocked out. “Wanna head back?” Galo asked, rubbing the back of his head before climbing to his feet.

“Galo.” Lio turned around to face him, his expression unreadable. “I want to stay with you.” He started to reply, but Lio held up one gloved finger, silencing him. “Let me finish.” With another sigh, Lio crossed his arms over his chest, and Galo pressed his lips together, the hundreds of things he wanted to say burning at the tip of his tongue. “I’ve lived almost my entire life until now with the Promare. Every single day, Galo, I would wake up with two things on my mind.” He held up two fingers now. “One, I need to burn the whole damn world down to nothing. And two, is today the day I’m finally going to be killed by the Foundation.”

Galo frowned. “Lio…”

He took a step closer to Galo, dropping his hands to his sides. “Now, neither of those are true. The Promare are gone, Kray’s been stripped of his authority, and the Burnish don’t exist in this world anymore. Everything that I thought made me ‘Lio,’ made me, _me…_ doesn’t exist anymore.” Lio clenched his hands into fists. “I’m happy for the rest of the Burnish. Everything that they never deserved, they’ll never have to go through again. They’ll be safe and happy for the rest of their lives.

“But… my life was defined by the Promare. And all I feel is lost.” Tears pricked the corners of Lio’s eyes and he roughly rubbed his face with the back of his hand.

“You’re still _you_, Lio.” Galo pulled off his glove to wipe Lio’s face with his thumb, leaving his palm against his cheek. “You’re still the guy who saved the world, the leader of the Mad Burnish. You brought down Kray. You’re Lio Fotia and you’ll always be Lio Fotia, with or without aliens from another dimension giving you superpowers.” He grinned and placed a fist on his hip and flexed his other arm. “Besides, if you’re lost, I’ll find you every single time without fail! I’ll always be here to rescue you.” Lio looked to the ground, contemplating, and Galo looked away to give him some space. He rubbed his cold nose before checking for the time. It was getting late.

“You’re an idiot, Galo Thymos,” Lio said suddenly, with a quiet smile contradictory to his words. He straightened out his clothes and picked up his bag.

“The world’s number one idiot,” Galo reminded Lio with a laugh, catching his hand in his own and holding it tightly. “Let’s go home.” Lio’s bright eyes looked at where their hands linked, his expression surprisingly soft, before meeting Galo’s gaze and nodding.

\---

Galo yawned widely, rubbing a hand against his eyes before tilting his face to catch sight of Lio, sleeping against him in a tight ball. He drowned in Galo’s grey sweats, though he now insisted on wearing them for pajamas, despite his previous misgivings. What remained of his prior outfit hung in his locker, shiny leather and tears and scuffs and all.

He mentally tallied up one more thing he didn’t understand about Lio. He had his own bunk at the FDPP, plenty of his own space, but Galo couldn’t say no Lio wanting to crowd _his_ space. Not that Lio took up much space, as he wasn’t the most physically imposing guy, nor did he have much to speak of in terms of personal possessions. _Living on the run_, he had explained sometime before, during the trip back to Station 3 with nothing but his tattered clothes, _prevented such a luxury_.

Carefully, so as not to wake him, Galo reached over to move a tuft of blond hair from Lio’s face and tucked it behind his ear. Before he had even moved his hand away, sharp purple eyes cut through the darkness and he realized that Lio watched him carefully. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to wake you,” he said quickly, retracting his hands and laughing nervously. Lio said nothing, only tilted his head slightly to watch Galo more intently. His cheek rested softly against Galo’s chest, the tickle of his hair gentle against his skin and Galo did not break eye contact, feeling uncertain.

“What were you doing?” Lio finally asked, hoisting himself up onto his palm and leaving a warm spot where he laid. For some reason, Galo blushed and couldn’t quite understand why. The oversized crewneck sweater hung over Lio’s shoulder; his blond hair mussed to the point of hilarity. But Galo couldn’t imagine ever seeing a more beautiful person.

Galo shook his head with a smile, struggling to find the words to reply. “I like watching you sleep. It’s like seeing an inferno turn into candlelight.” Lio’s face remained mostly neutral, though his eyebrow crept up in subtle amusement. He reached his free hand down to brush against Galo’s cheek, his head tilted, and his bright eyes fixated on Galo’s blue ones. “Uh, Lio—” he started, shifting to move but Lio did not give him the opportunity, instead pressing his hand to Galo’s mouth, pinning him against his pillow.

“Go the hell to sleep, idiot.” He flopped back down into his starting position, his cheek pressed against Galo’s chest and his hair tossed out like a halo around him. Mildly confused, but also too tired to ask, Galo wrapped his arm around Lio’s shoulders and rested his chin on top of his head, tucking him tightly against his side. He was soft, and warm, and so different from the Lio he had first met. He recalled the Burnish armor he’d used, the speed and dexterity and tenacity with which he fought. How could this even be the same man?

Galo wasn’t even sure how things ended up like this.

As he dozed off, Lio’s arm wrapped loosely around Galo’s waist and their legs tangled together, he realized that he didn’t really mind.


End file.
